Get to know atheists, then opine

At the outset of Gary Welton's recent As I See It, "When atheists turn to God," it appears he is preparing to present a rebuttal to the American Humanist Association's latest lawsuit to have "under God" removed from the Pledge of Allegiance. He had the opportunity to guide readers to reasons he believes this lawsuit misguided, which could have generated genuinely interesting conversation about the implications of the phrase and the impact of the lawsuit.

Instead he elected to quote fictional atheist characters in order to build a case against nonbelievers in general.

However, what is more concerning than Mr. Welton's uninventive writing is his conformity to the notion that, when faced with strife, atheists turn to a higher power.

If Mr. Welton had taken the time to talk to nonbelievers and discover how they cope with trying situations, he might have found that atheists have established a number of ways to deal with hard times in purely secular ways.

Greta Christina, a prominent atheist blogger, has written extensively on the topic.

Atheists have a hard enough time in this country without people spreading lies about our behavior. Next time, I hope Mr. Welton gets to know an atheist before trying to write about them, because although atheist characters in popular fiction might display a tendency to drift back to the supernatural, nonbelievers in real life have a much different story to tell.